Civtec Takes Your Safety Seriously

27 september 2017

Photo by Tristan Hooker

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Health and safety isn’t just about rules and regulations. Most importantly, it’s about the care of people – making sure the workers, supervisors and the public all go home to their families at the end of the day, healthy and safe.

Civtec has around 27 crews around the Waikato, working with heavy machinery, carrying out underground thrusting, directional drilling and civil works. The company takes safety very seriously and complies with New Zealand’s Health & Safety at Work Act 2015, as well as using high-tech health and safety management systems.

Caroline Hodges, Civtec’s Project Co-Ordinator and Health and Safety manager, says while Civtec takes all precautions to ensure the safety of its workers and any visitors to the sites, there are some things the public can do to keep themselves safe when approaching a work site.

“We take the public’s safety as seriously as that of our employees,” says Caroline. “Our workers have been thoroughly trained in how to stay safe at our sites but passers-by haven’t, so we need to use safeguards to keep the public safe.”

These safeguards include signage at the site, barriers around holes or other hazards and crew members keeping an eye on pedestrians.

Official visitors to Civtec’s sites are given a thorough safety briefing and must wear a fluorescent vest, helmet and closed-toed shoes. Only then are they allowed within the boundaries of the work site.

Civtec crew members are friendly and are usually happy for members of the public to observe the operations from a safe distance. Here’s what you can do to keep yourself safe when approaching or passing nearby a Civtec work site:

1. Obey the signs: Signage and/or barriers will be in place to give instructions and indicate boundaries. Make sure you adhere to the signage and barriers to avoid putting yourself in danger or getting in the way of the work in progress.

2. Pay attention: Avoid distractions such as texting, listening to music or other diversions while you’re near the site so that you can be fully aware of any hazards around the site such as heavy equipment, moving vehicles or holes.

3. Expect the Unexpected: Underground directional drilling is somewhat safer than traditional open-cut excavation methods, since there are less open holes for people to fall into. However, there is specialised equipment involved in the UDD process, which is being used by trained operators. Due to the nature of underground drilling, not all moving parts are visible to onlookers. Remain vigilant and obey any instructions from the crew.

Safety is of primary importance in any operation and Civtec’s working environment promotes the wellbeing of the crew, the public, the equipment, the environment and the infrastructure.

Civtec utilises Health and Safety management technology from Safe365 to keep track of safety requirements, communicate with onsite crew and ensure processes and equipment are up to date and continuously improving.